1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a memory unit mounting module and, in particular, a memory unit mounting module for use with a vehicle navigation device.
2. Related Art
Computer-based navigation devices are available for on-board use in vehicles. These navigation devices provide end-users, such as drivers of vehicles in which the navigation devices are installed, with various navigation functions and features. Navigation devices are able to determine a route from a present vehicle position to a selected vehicle destination. To provide the navigation function, some navigation devices access and use a detailed database that includes data representing physical features in a geographic region. Some detailed databases include data representing road and intersection locations and information about the roads, such as turn restrictions, speed limits, address ranges and further route mapping and planning information. For example, some detailed data bases include information related to points of interest (POI), such as factual information regarding monuments, sightseeing places, restaurants, and other types of vehicle travel destinations.
Given the relatively large electronic memory capacity needed for such detailed data bases for on-board navigation devices, geographic and other data are often stored on a memory unit such as a CD-rom disk. The demand for on-board access in vehicle navigation devices to ever increasing volumes of data has resulted in efforts to include hard disks and similar electronic memory units in these devices. When a hard disk is used in an on-board navigation device in a vehicle, several problems arise. The navigation device needs to be able to accurately read data from the hard disk while the vehicle is in motion, in spite of exposure of the hard disk to shocks and vibrations. Some navigation devices have addressed these problems by securing a memory unit to a housing of the navigation device. The memory unit cannot be assured in all normal driving circumstances to properly read data in such a navigation device, as shocks or vibrations due to the road surface on which the vehicle is moving can disturb the reading of the data.
Damping elements are used in combination with disk drives for portable computers such as laptops, as a shock protective mechanism to reduce damage in such computers from motion shocks. However, in these applications, the disk drive is locked during transportation of the computer. The damping elements are also mechanically locked during transportation because the damping elements could be destroyed or displaced within the shock protective mechanism by exposure to a strong shock, such as the shock experienced by a portable computer or other portable electronic device, including the disk drive, when the computer falls or is dropped.
Therefore, a need exists for a memory unit mounting module for use with an on-board vehicle navigation device that is able to protect an electronic memory unit, such as a hard disk, from vibrations and/or shocks and that will properly function when the vehicle, in which the navigation device is installed, is moving.